DARTMOUTH — Jillian Zucco, Miss New Bedford 2014, provided not only the highlight of Tuesday’s convocation breakfast at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, but the theme as well, belting out Sara Bareilles’ chart-topping “Brave” to a standing ovation.

“When you’re launching a strategic plan, you have to be brave,” Chancellor Divina Grossman said in thanking Zucco for her performance.

At the breakfast, one of a series of events launching the new academic year, Grossman explained the “UMass Transform 2020” strategic plan, which aims to turn the school into a center for research over the next six years, to faculty, staff, student leaders and local officials.

UMass Dartmouth is “the only research university south of Boston” in the state, Grossman said.

“We are the hub of innovation for an entire region," Grossman said. "We have an obligation to be the best that we can be.”

UMass Dartmouth will be the “catalyst for economic, social and cultural transformation,” she said.

The plan has five goals: innovative and high-impact research and academic programs; integrated, student-centered experiences; excellence in research, scholarship and innovation; highly productive collaborations, partnerships and community engagement; and infrastructure and process in support of excellence.

That translates, in part, to collaborations with other universities, as well as with local school systems. It also places a focus on more internships, attracting faculty who develop ideas and attract more funding, and improving “teaching and learning across every field.”

The plan is the culmination of a year’s worth of work by a 42-member committee supported by subcommittees and more community members. It has been working over the past year to spur discussion about the future hopes of the school.

Mohammad Karim, the school’s provost and executive vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, told those in attendance that it’s time to take action.

“It is time to run, and we are done with planning,” he said. “It’s time for strategic doing” as opposed to strategic planning.

Grossman and Karim also welcomed 37 new faculty members.

Other speakers at the breakfast included the Rev. Robert Lawrence, who gave the invocation at the ceremony, and U.S. Rep. William Keating.